LOL: Can’t I play other games professionally?

Chapter 438 Quarterfinals Draw Ceremony, Which one of you raised your hand?
"It's over! Lin Ruo has advanced to the next level!"

The two WildFox commentators, who had been glued to the screen the entire time, immediately announced their excitement to the world.

Shin Jinseo conceded defeat, and a huge weight was lifted from their shoulders.

Lin Ruo's victory over Shin Jinseo, one of South Korea's two strongest players, can be said to have preserved China's last hope of winning the Dream Lily Cup.

Otherwise, the Mlily Cup might not attract much attention anymore, even if three or four Chinese players can advance, the two strongest Korean players will advance.

Even Cao Dayuan, who often makes guest appearances as a commentator, breathed a sigh of relief. From move 80 onwards, Lin Ruo had gained all the advantages in this game, which was not as intense and close as yesterday's or any other endgame battles he had ever watched.

But it was something that genuinely made him nervous and worried; after Ke Jie's elimination, the result of this match was indeed extremely important.

For all Chinese Go enthusiasts, if South Korea loses this match, it's likely they will once again defend their title of the Mlily Cup.

Fortunately, Lin Ruo won, allowing all the suspense to continue to the greatest extent possible.

This also excited and thrilled all the viewers in the live stream.

Holy crap, Lin Shen! 666!

[I heard Shin Jinseo is the future number one player in Korea, so how did Lin Ruo beat him like this? I get it, Lin Ruo is invincible.]

[mlgbz, you gave away your advantage twice before, I thought we were going to lose, are you kidding us?]

[Lin Ruo can end the game in the middle stage even against Shin Jinseo. He seems like a complete monster. Is there a skill gap between the two of them?]

[Stop with the nonsense. To be honest, right now I think the only one who can fight Lin Ruo is Park Jung-hwan. So stop with the nonsense and bring Park Jung-hwan here.]

[Damn, Shin Jinseo already won, what's the point of playing anymore? Just fast forward to the trophy win, fast forward to how unbelievable Lin will be after he's promoted to 9-dan.]

[No way, this is so fast! You'd think Lin was playing a League of Legends match like this.]

If Lin (Lin) keeps winning, Go will become the next League of Legends, with no one able to compete.

In stark contrast to the Chinese audience, there were undoubtedly the South Korean netizens who, with little time difference, were able to follow the match at the same time.

When the news of Shin Jinseo's elimination was broadcast live on Korean websites, who knows what Korean netizens were thinking in real time.

All I know is that the forum suddenly fell silent, as if the sky had collapsed and killed a large number of people, followed by a huge chorus of wailing and lamentation.

Shin Jinseo, on whom they had placed high hopes, was defeated, defeated by Lin Ruo, whom they least wanted to lose to, the one who had eliminated Park Younghoon and dealt them a heavy blow at the Dream Lily Cup.

Now they've dealt a second blow in this match, one that's even heavier than the first.

Shin Jinseo is their hope for the future, while Park Younghoon and Park Jung-hwan are the kind of people who will retire honorably in a few years.

In this situation, if their hopes have not been defeated by Lin Ruo, who is also a hope of China's younger generation, then isn't South Korea's future destined to be trampled underfoot by Chinese Go?

The fear from League of Legends has completely spread to the Go world, with comments on Korean websites filled with blatantly obvious viewpoints, somewhat resembling impotent rage.

[Hey, isn't he a League of Legends player? Why is he allowed to participate in a Go competition? Can't we disqualify him?]

[Yeah, why? As a League of Legends player, shouldn't you just focus on playing League of Legends? How can there be such a player who doesn't take their job seriously?]

[I can't take it anymore! Can't he choose to play either League of Legends or Go? You know, as a fan of both League of Legends and Go, everyone knows how painful it is to be completely dominated by one person in both fields at the same time.]

Honestly, as a top player in another field, he shouldn't even be qualified to participate in any Go competitions.

...

The utterly devastated Korean viewers were oblivious to the fact that, even after the live broadcast had ended, the necessary procedures in the match hall were still in progress.

Shin Jinseo, having conceded defeat, placed his hands limply on the chessboard, watching the two pieces fall to the ground with a clatter, followed by the referee's announcement.

"At the end of the middle game, Black wins. Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, has advanced to the top 8 from the 5th table."

The words fell.

Shin Jinseo, the future hope of South Korea, couldn't help but look up at his opponent. Having carefully studied the previous matches, he knew better than anyone that today's battle would be an unprecedentedly tough one.

However... in the end, he never expected that this hard-fought battle was only for him personally, and was nothing to his opponent. The only word to describe his victory in the middle game was "crushing".

That's exactly what happened.

Shin Jinseo, who had very little control of the game, had never felt so desperate as he did today.

It's okay to lose, but the loss was too ugly.

He had never been so thoroughly crushed before. Today's match was undoubtedly a huge blow to his confidence and completely disrupted his mind.

The two engaged in a fierce battle, and his prized fighting skills were completely crushed by the truck in this duel.

When a person's most confident aspects are ruthlessly trampled underfoot, such a blow will undoubtedly permeate every aspect of their heart.

Shin Jinseo was already affected at this moment, and he kept his head down pulling at his hair, and even his tone of voice sounded a little weak.

"You win, thank you for your guidance."

"You're welcome."

Lin Ruo slowly stood up, quietly looking at Shin Jinseo who couldn't lift his head, and extended his hand to his opponent as the victor, according to the rules.

He was thinking that if he beat someone up like that, he would have to accelerate Shin Jinseo's research into AI-based strategies when he got back.

After all, Shin Jinseo rose to become the number one player precisely because his own playing style had not improved significantly for a long time, coupled with the invincibility of the AI ​​style, which led him to devote himself to it and achieve success.

This must have made him reflect deeply on his mistakes and start studying right away.

Shin Jinseo, whose heart was still trembling, had no idea what Lin Ruo was thinking. He composed himself, slowly stood up and responded. The two shook hands and then brought the match to a close.

The media cameras at the scene seemed to ignore them for a moment and focused on the two of them.

Although the media hadn't yet entered the venue due to other match schedules, they were already allowed to take photos remotely after the match ended.

Before Lin Ruo could speak, Shin Jinseo, having shaken hands, had already sat down and quickly pointed to a spot on the chessboard that puzzled him, beginning to seriously ask for advice.

"I had no idea how this step came about."

Compared to the pervasive sense of disappointment, Shin Jinseo clearly believed that it was more important to find the reasons for the failure as soon as possible, so he immediately used his right as the losing side to request a review of the game.

If it were any other Chinese person, Shin Jinseo wouldn't be in such a hurry. Firstly, he had never lost so badly before, and secondly, there was the language barrier.

However, Lin Ruo succeeded in all of this. He spoke Korean, and he made himself look incredibly embarrassed, so Shin Jinseo asked questions without holding back.

"You're really that bold here? The initial move clearly makes no sense. Are you really that confident I'd come to the bottom right to play with you?"

"Is this really a step too? Aren't you afraid of going too far alone?"

Shin Jinseo had too many questions to ask, and for a moment he didn't even consider whether Lin Ruo could answer them all.

Lin Ruo, who had sat down again, simply focused on the key question: "You want to learn?"

Upon hearing this, Shin Jinseo nodded subconsciously. He really wanted to know how Lin Ruo had set up her defenses from the bottom right, completely overwhelming him.

"Okay, I'll teach you." Lin Ruo still liked Shin Jinseo's willingness to ask questions when she didn't understand, unlike some people who were stubborn or shy.

"In the opening stage, I think Black and White are evenly matched, but Black has slightly gained the initiative on the board by taking the first move."

"Lin Ruo, a first-dan player, seems to be different from many other players. When he gets the black pieces, he can often make full use of his first-move advantage and put pressure on his opponent from a certain moment onwards, which seems to make full use of the black pieces."

"If a player can use the first move to put pressure on the opponent repeatedly, then giving up a few points is completely insignificant."

"However, during this period, Shin Jinseo 9-dan was completely unable to withstand the pressure. White's 91st move was a mistake. The large group of stones in the middle was not fully alive and was likely to be entangled and attacked by Black."

"The biggest mistake was not to immediately attack the tiger's mouth in the lower right corner. It was clear that the black's three consecutive moves in the opening were underestimated."

"The 124th move is self-explanatory; it was a desperate move made in a panic."

In the WildFox livestream room, as soon as the game ended, Cao Dayuan and his commentator partner started a simple recap on the game board to help viewers understand the ins and outs of the entire game.

In summary, aside from Lin Ruo's outstanding performance, the other problem was that Shin Jinseo failed to maintain his composure.

He was too impatient in this game. He tried to launch an offensive in the beginning, but seemed to lose his composure when he was at a disadvantage.

This caused him to become somewhat impatient later on. It was obvious that if Shin Jinseo had played steadily, he wouldn't have lost so badly.

However, they are still very young at this stage. The South Korean future stars who advocate fighting will not be able to play the steady game with you. People need to grow. Otherwise, they would have been world champions long ago.

At the same time, it was also because Lin Ruo's offensive was too fierce, forcing him to think for more than 20 minutes in a row, making it really too difficult to calm down.

In a typical disadvantageous situation, Shin Jinseo is not incapable of remaining calm.

This resulted in Shin Jinseo being completely suppressed by Lin Ruo throughout the entire match, and he was unable to perform at all.

...

After listening to Lin Ruo's explanation, Shin Jinseo was filled with mixed feelings. He knew that he had indeed made far more mistakes in many aspects compared to the past.

But isn't this also because the pressure from the opponent is too great?

That's why Shin Jinseo wanted to review the moves that hadn't caught him off guard. After understanding them, Shin Jinseo finally felt a little relieved.

"Thank you, you're incredibly strong. I'll go back and continue reviewing the game. I look forward to our next match."

"Next time? We'll see."

"If I win the championship and then retire, there won't be a next time," Lin Ruo thought to herself.

The two discussed the game as they left, and the process naturally included interviews with the media present, which Shin Jinseo, as the loser, had the right to refuse.

After all, you can't expect to put on a smiling face in front of the media after losing a game.

However, Lin Ruo was not so lucky. He was bound to be besieged by the media, and he also had to stay at the scene to wait for the next round of draws after all the matches were over.

Since people can't leave, giving media interviews isn't a big deal.

Media reporters, they ask the same old questions, like what you think.

As for feelings, it's not like I haven't defeated a 9-dan professional Go player before, so why would I have so many feelings?

If you're asking about the significance of defeating Park Young-hoon and Shin Jin-seo, Lin Ruo can only say it's not enough; there's still the first person to achieve that feat.

That's right, I'm referring to Park Jung-hwan.

Lin Ruo openly expressed his desire to compete against Park Jung-hwan to the reporters, not because he was particularly looking forward to it, but simply because it was a hobby, like collecting stamps.

If you're going to do something, do it thoroughly. Since you've already defeated Shin Jinseo and Park Younghoon, isn't it necessary to defeat Park Junghwan as well?

The media reporters were delighted. It was indeed great to interview Lin Ruo; they didn't have to rack their brains to beat around the bush, as Lin Ruo knew how to do it herself.

Regardless of anything else, the interview will definitely be packed with trending topics and sensationalism.

"Wow, you've completely crushed Shin Jinseo! Oh no, you're really going to win the championship!"

After getting past the media and leaving the hall, Lin Ruo inevitably had to endure Li Weiqing's gossip, even though he only said nice things.

But Lin Ruo still wanted some peace and quiet at the moment. If he really had to make a scene, he preferred Zhang Ruo's tranquil female voice to a rough male voice.

However, Zhang Ruo had already learned from the comparison with Li Weiqing how annoying talking was, so she only said a few words to Lin Ruo.

Even if she wanted to say more, she probably couldn't out-talk Li Weiqing's continuous stream of words.

However, what Lin Ruo really liked about Li Weiqing was that he never asked for advice for free.

"Lin Ruo, that move of yours is really impressive! Quickly explain your thought process to me."

"Would you like to treat me to dinner?"

"Of course, please. Let's find a restaurant, sit down, eat, and talk."

Because the match ended so early, there were still at least one or two hours left in the other matches, which was plenty of time for them to have a meal first.

Lin Ruo naturally had no reason to go hungry, so the three of them went out to find a nearby restaurant to eat at. After more than an hour, they returned with their fill of food and drinks, and there was still one table in the competition hall where the game was still in progress.

Finally, with Japanese national player Ichiriki Ryo defeating his opponent, the round of 16 came to an end. Of the eight players who advanced, Chinese players still occupied more than half of the five spots.

South Korea has two, while Japan has one.

Without further delay, the most exciting part of the competition, the draw ceremony, also began immediately after the match.

(End of this chapter)